Fire and Ice
by Rockin Rocky
Summary: Also by Keira-hime. Two girls lives are forced together by a twist of fate; the Avatar and, of course, the one hunting him down. Firebender  but it's a secret  Mika and Waterbender Kira have to survive their enemies, and hardest of all, each other.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_**Kira**_

"Kira! Kira! Time for dinner!"Kira heard Tib calling for her.

"Coming!" Kira ran along the dirt path until finally she got to their little cottage. She walked into the front room and smelled the heavenly scent of stew.

"How was your walk honey?" Tib said.

"Fine, like always." She said cheerfully.They sat down at the table, "So what's going on with the war these days?" Kira asked. It felt funny talking about a war that barely effected them. Sure, troops walked through the town everyday but harm never came to anyone. The townspeople said they were looking for benders, but there were none except... no one knew it, but really she, Kira, was a water bender. "Thanks for dinner"

"Kira how many times have I told you, you don't have to thank _me_ for dinner."

Kira smiled as she cleared the table. "Goodnight!" Kira climbed up the ladder into the attic. Her bed was in the corner. Kira lay down on it. As she waited for her dad to go to sleep she thought about what she was about to do. Now, she did this every night, but it was always a rush. She was going to sneak out of the house and make her way over to the creek, then under the moonlight she would practice her bending, it was the only time she could. Creak, creak slam! She waited only but a moment. Quietly she got up and snuck down the ladder and out the door. As silent as a deer in the forest she glided through the trees. Finally, she got to the creek, but before she could bend she heard some men across it, quickly she hid behind a bush.

"Yeah I heard that too!" said the one man

"Man, I bet that water bender has a _giant_bounty on its head! Har har har har har!" said another man.

WATERBENDER! Why...?

"A stream is the perfect place to start looking!" said the first man.She heard them walking up and down the steam.

"Maybe on the other side?" said the second.Oh no they were going to find her! Kira started to panic.

"Hey what's that? I think I heard something!"

"Yeah, coming from that bush!"

Kira knew she had to do something but what? Well, what better way to prevent someone from kidnapping you then to fight back?

_**Mika**_

A young girl awoke to an elderly woman and a younger woman huddled over her.

"She should be awake soon," the young woman said, running his hand through his silver hair.

"Wonderful, it's a shame we don't know who she is though…"

"With the state she was in when we found her, she may have amnesia and not even remember."

"Poor thing," the old woman said as the girl finally mustered enough strength to sit up, only to feel a piercing pain in her abdomen and have to lie back down again.

"Ah, you're awake. How do you feel?" The young woman greeted with a warm smile, masking the serious face he had just a second ago.

"Fine, thanks…"

"Do you remember anything?" She questioned, trying not to sound too pushy or demanding.

"My name is Mika… I… I can't remember anything else other than my name…"

"That's fine, Mika. You're in the Southern Water Tribe," the young woman said, motioning to the wall of ice that surrounded them.

"I gave you some of my granddaughter's old clothing if that's alright. She wants to travel the world… with Aang, we believe he might be the Avatar. He's here to protect our village from the Fire Nation" the old woman said.

"That's wonderful for her… I wish I had control of my life. I don't even know who I am or how I ended up here, but a girl around my age probably has her destiny all planned out." Mika laughed, self-pity in her slightly raspy voice.

"You're still young; you don't need to have your life planned out…"

"Thank you… I would like to meet your granddaughter though…"

"Maybe you will, once our healer here fixes you up…" the woman glared at the young woman.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she playfully jeered, "Mika, tell us if you remember anything okay? Also, do you know what this tattoo on your back is?"

"Tattoo?" Mika said, trying to crane her neck so she could see, only to realize two things; she was wearing a big, bulky coat and even if she wasn't she wouldn't be able to get her neck in the right position to see without breaking it, which she wasn't planning on doing..

"Don't worry about it; you have plenty of time to figure out who you are. Just focus on recovering."

"Okay,... Thanks for everything… if it's alright I'd like to rest," Mika said, smiling a small smile.

"Oh, that's fine. Call me if you need anything."

"Alright, Thanks."

"What?" the elderly woman said in awe, looking at something in the distance. Mika managed to get up from her bed and join her, looking at the scene in front of her.

"Wait; if I let you take me will you leave this village alone?" A young boy pleaded. The boy had an arrow on his head. Only airbenders had those arrows. Mika gasped, that had to be the avatar…

"I have to go, thank you for everything," Mika rushed out the door, not waiting for a reply. She knew what she was going to do, she would save the avatar...Aang was it? She then ran towards the ship the avatar was being brought on to and jumped on, "This better work," Mika said, rushing to hide when two guards came around a corner. A little while later she knew she had to figure out something quickly, she came up with a plan to free Aang, so just as the guards walked away, she ran up to the deck… and there they were; the people helping Aang, on a flying bison. She was too late. She couldn't say what happened next; a blur of events with water and shocked faces, but she could remember no more than that. She woke up from her daze shackled to a wall somewhere in the ship. A teen boy with a scar over his left eye came over to her, coming no more than two inches away from her.

"You seem to be Fire Nation,... even though you were helping the avatar. Traitor, humph. Maybe dropping you off will restore some of my honor… then I will be welcomed home and given my place on the throne," this was the moment you'd expect him to burst out in insane laughter, though no such thing happened. The teen just stared intently at Mika, and Mika stared straight back into his amber eyes.

"Zuko, tea?" A heavy man asked cheerfully, raising a porcelain cup up in the air.

"No, uncle, I don't want any tea…" Zuko replied, a stubborn look on his rugged features.

"Fine then," the man left grudgingly, "more for me". The two teens continued their 'staring contest' and Mika saw something in the eyes she was looking at… fear? Guilt? No… it was something else… something different. She was about to figure it out, but he looked away and stared out a porthole.

"Hey listen to that," the teen said, accompanied by the horn of another boat, "there's your next boat. Have fun in prison."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Kira_

"Aaaahhh! Let me go! Why are you doing this? The Fire Nation is evil, its trying to take over the world!" Kira cried

"Yeah...but they're rich! Har har har har har!" laughed Bibsha

" You were easier to catch then we thought! You's are what? 11? Har har!" said Terden

"I'm 15!" She protested

"It wont matter what age you are to the Fire Nation or us, long as we get what we want" said Bibsha

"Also age dont matter when your building railroad tracks! Har har har!"said Terden

Building. Railroad. Tracks?

The 2 men forced her to a caravan. They opened a latch and shoved her inside. She barely fit. The cramped space was filled with all sorts of knicks & knacks. "Ugh... a little messy back here huh?" she grumbled. Her head was filled with questions. Where were they taking her? What were they gonna do with her? What about Tib?Slowly the steady bumpty bump rocked her right to sleep.

" Ugh..." Kira woke up as the 2 men literally** tossed **her into a cage the size of a small cabinet.

Slowly they made their way through a winding road until they reached a lavish house. They set her down and knocked on the door. It opened and a man stood before them. The man gave her captors a glare, but then focused his attention on her. She glared at him.

He laughed " Well done my friends!" he said in a deep voice "Here is your reward!" He said handing the men a bag, most definitely filled with gold.

"Have fun!" the men called as they walked off.

The man snapped his fingers and two servants came into view. They picked her up and brought her to a truck. They threw her into the back. She heard the truck start and it rolled away.

Finally, a couple hours later...

"Well here we are! The desert!" one servant said.

" Great! More suffering!" Kira mumbled. She couldn't live like this, she had to do something! Carefully the servants unlocked the cage. Immediately she jumped out and kicked one in the face.

"Quickly! Cuff her! This is a tough one!" one guard yelled

The another guard shot a ball of fire at her. She jumped to the side just to be smashed in the face with a club.

" Ow!" Kira grabbed for her knife, but a guard grabbed her hand. "No!" she yelled pulling away, but to no avail. The guard grabbed her other hand and cuffed her. Still, she struggled.

" Knock her out!" Yelled a guard.

No! She ducked and leaned into the guard holding her. Bad decision she realized as he threw her into the side the of the truck. She hit her head and her vision blurred.

" Get her into a holding cell! Pronto!" was the last thing she heard before she blacked out.

" Hey! Psst! You awake?"

Kira awoke to a voice. "Wha-" she asked confused. Wait, where was she? Oh, she remembered, now she got captured.

"Good you're awake!" the voice, a boy's, continued "what's your name? Mine is Keen Shu!... Oh I must be scaring you, you are only a girl an-"

Only a girl! "Hey!" Kira protested.

Keen Shu laughed "I knew that would get you to talk...it always works. Really you should be scared because you're new. Don't worry...they wont **gas** us."

"Ah- of course not, I knew that. They're gonna make us work, with railroads?" Kira rolled her eyes.

" You're right! **We** have to build them. Where do you get your info? I **need** those people."

" Oh just two really horrible kidnappers that got lucky,... hear me? Very lucky."

"Uh-huh. Want me to tell you the schedu-" He was cut off by the sound of boots coming up the stairs. "Shh!" he said urgently.

The man's boots thundered down the hall stoping and then starting again every few feet. "Here's your food for today" the man said as he came into view. He shoved in a bowl of what looked like porridge.

As soon as the guard left Kira turned to the wall. "Hey Shu? You dont mind if I call you that, do you?"

"No, course not"

"So is this edible?"

Shu laughed "Yup not that tasty though. Although you have to eat it, its all the food you're getting"

No other food?

" Anyways I should tell you the rules. 1: no talking near the guards and 2: no talking to the guards. So for the schedule, wake up, work for about 6 hours, get food and go to sleep. Talking 'bout sleep, im pretty tired, so talk to you in the morning!"

Kira smiled to herself and finished eating her "mush" as she called it. She would talk to Keen Shu in the morning, she would.

_**Mika**_

Mika got on to the boat reluctantly, the only reason she wasn't fighting was that she didn't know if she could bend, and that she was in the middle of the ocean and didn't want to die in a watery grave. The other boat, the prison boat, started moving away first.

"C'mon girly, this way," a man, a prison guard, said. He tightened his grip on her small arm and pulled her towards the cells. In each, blood stains covered floors and walls, a few had some bones discarded on the floor. She didn't like the feeling the place gave her. She was pushed into an empty cell, one made of a mix of metal and wood. A single bed was in the corner, and two blood stains decorated the floor.

"What's a l'ttle girl doin' here?" a prisnor asked.

"Yeah, a delicate thing like that don't belong in a place like this." Another jeered.

"Ah, no worries, she'll be put in another cell soon enough… and then maybe put to work a bit. I'm sure we could make a lot of money off of you if we sold you… I bet Jim would pay a hefty fine for someth'n as small and cute as you…"

"Never," Mika said through gritted teeth, making a move to punch the guard before he closed the cell door.

"Nice try… little girl," the guard said, closing the door and leaving her all alone.

"Rise and shine, time to work," a guard said, opening Mika's cell door. She grumbled, but got up. The guard shackled her and brought her to the courtyard, "just keep on feeding the fire coal, got it? Mess up, and the warden will 'ave your head," the guard made an attempt to slap her arm, but she moved away. When he then settled for her backside, he smirked. She grumbled. In about a half-an-hour, her hands were black with coal and she felt like she could pass out any minute. The guard shackled her and brought her back inside, threw her into her cell, and left.

"Ow," Mika said, rubbing her wrists where the handcuffs dug into them.

"Food," a guard yelled, tossing in a stale roll of bread. Mika gulped it down instantly, hating that she so loved the feeling of it in her stomach. She sighed, hoping they'd get wherever they were going soon, so she could feel land again. She despised the ponytail clad idiot who threw her on this boat, he didn't even know who she was and yet, she was a traitor. She slammed her fist hard on the floor of her cell. She heard a crack and felt an incredible pain, but she didn't even care anymore. She just wanted to sleep, wake up, and replay this day until she was thrown into another cell. She hated life.

"Alright, prisoners, welcome to the desert. Hope you're not thirsty," a buff guard chuckled, shackling a prisoner twice the size of him with burn scars all over his body. Mika was shackled by a woman with a petite figure and big muscles that made her disproportionate. She was led onto a sand cruiser which brought her to a prison. It looked similar to the prison boat, made only of metal. There were two buildings. A big, tall building, that she guessed was were the prisoners were held, and a slightly smaller one, probably a house for the guards. Behind the buildings there was a railroad, at least part of a railroad. The other end which seemed it was just being made was surrounded by a low fence only up to her knees. Slowly she was led to the tall building. She was thrown into a metal prison cell that looked more like a cage than anything else.

"Ge' some sleep, you'll be wakin' up early in the morn'. An' workin," the woman said, locking the cell. Mika lay down on the bed soon, she was fast asleep.


	3. Prison

Chapter 3

_Kira_

Kira waited and waited and waited. She sighed. Maybe she should try again, she shouldn't be pushy like Keen Shu was to her. "Are you there? I know you are probably scared, but it's not so bad here. Actually recently they have been giving us bread. Before all it was was porridge. Ugh!"

Kira took a breath.

"I'm Mika and I am not scared!"

Whoa! Kira had not expected that. This girl-Mika seemed tough, but in pain. "Are you OK?"

"I. Fine" Mika took a shuddered breath.

Kira squinted this girl was definitely not fine. "You seem in pain..." Kira shook her head. Mika didn't seem like the type of girl who would admit her feelings. "Never mind. Anyways, let me tell you a few rules. Spoken and unspoken. 1: no talking to the guards unless asked a question, 2: no talking near guards and 3: **always** do what the guards tells you to."

"Uh duh!" Mika said

Kira looked up, a guard was walking toward them. "Shh! A guard is coming!"

The guard stopped in front of Mika's cell. " 'ere's your bread newbie" He stepped forward only to stop suddenly and turn around. "Hey! What do you 'ave in those wraps around yer 'and fer?"

Great. Wait, hand wrappings? That must be what hurts. She had to do something...

"Nothing! You actually think there would be something small enough to hide in here? Even you're not that stupid!"

Did Mika just call the guard stupid? Oh no, she was gonna get in _**so**_ much trouble! But the guard just growled and walked away. He stopped in front of her cell and threw the bread in.

Amazing, Mika just stood up to a guard and nothing happened! This could be the start of a great friendship. Once the guard left Kira immediately opened her mouth to talk.

"I cant believe I just did that!" Mika just about screamed.

Kira giggled, she couldnt either.

–

The next day, the guard let them out of the cells and into the courtyard.

"Hey! You must be Mika" Kira walked up to a girl about her age with a bandaged wrist.

"Oh, um thanks for the advice, but..." Mika trailed off

Kira knew what she was thinking of, the other day with the guard. "Yeah! But of course you dont need it do you?" Kira laughed

"Yeah, so why are you here?" Mika not so subtly.

"I'm a waterbender, the last, make that the only, in my village. You know, got a huge bounty on my head. Normal teenage problems..." They both burst out laughing.

"Hey! You two get to work! Now!" a guard yelled

They looked at each other, giggling. They walked over to the big pile of railroad tracks.

"Come on, help me with this piece" Kira said as she leaned over to pick up a one.

"Sure"

"I'll help too!" a voice called out. Keen Shu! "You petite ladies are no match for a big," Kira muffled a giggle "strong man" he said.

"Oh," Mika giggled. "Where can we find one of those?" Keen Shu pouted

"You go girl!" Kira and Mika high-fived

"Come on we better get to work!" Keen Shu insisted. The two girls giggled, but complied.

–

_**Mika **_

_'I dont know what to think. I never really thought __**prison **__would be a pleasant, or somewhat pleasant experience. But I have... friends? There's Kira, who I met first when she talked to me but I couldn't see her, then in the courtyard_ _when I saw what she looked like. Then theres Keen whatever-his-name-is who thinks he's so much better then he really is. Ha. The guards arent so bad, well they're guards and they're evil, but they dont threaten to kill me every five seconds like they're rumored to. Now I just need to escape. Maybe Kira can help, she's nice, but doesnt seem like much of a risk-taker. Maybe her little boyfriend can talk her into it. I've been starting to remember why I'm here, like I'm a firebender from a small fire nation gated community. My mother is _obsessed _with the royal family whatever, though I could care less. My father works my brother and I to the bone, and he's a soldier or best friend is a tailor who saves money and resourses by making clothes with small amounts of fabric._

"Hey, Mika," Kira said to me. "I have to ask you a serious question. Why are you here?"

"Well," I remembered running away from my village, the boat, the ponytail idiot, but I wasn't about to tell her my life story. "I stole some money, you know, from a bank." I was trying to think quickly, but there are two things you should really know about me. One, I don't think fast. Two, I cant lie. At all.

"A... bank?"

"Yeah, my mom wouldn't buy me something. I wanted it really badly and it was... expensive, yeah, so I just... stole from a bank."

"Whatever you say..." Kira said, obviously doubting my story.

_'Stupid! I wanted to buy something so I stole from a bank? Really? Couldn't I say I killed someone or something? But, no... I stole from a bank because my mom wouldn't buy me something. Well, Kira doesn't know my mom. One of these days I really may have to steal from a bank to get something. But, really?'_

"Yeah... anyway, let's..." I leaned into Kira's ear. "Escape."

"What?"

"Yeah, I'm tired of stale bread and these stupid prison clothes. It may not look like it but, I'm a fashionable person."

"Stale bread and prison clothes? _Thats _why you want to... you know," she mouthed the word escape. "That's a little... crazy. I mean I hate it here too... but... I mean did the prison guard slip you some drugs or something. That crazy story and then... the... you know... idea"

"Yes, I know, and no, the guard did not give me drugs. I'm just saying..."

"I don't really know..."

"Don't know what?" Keen Shu butted in.

"If we can stand your idiocy any longer," I said, keeping a straight face

"Oh," he pouted, seeming a little hurt. But, a _big, strong man _like _that _could take a little joke, right?

"We weren't taking about that... and plus," Kira muttered, "we have more important things to discuss..."

"I suppose we do," I said. "Let's get to work on our little plan."

"I haven't agreed yet..." Kira said.

"Agreed to what?" Keen Shu said.

"Escape," I said.

"Don't say it out loud like that..." Kira said.

"What are they gonna do, we're already in jail."

"Well..." Kira started.

"No time, let's get to work!"

–


End file.
